The business of inclusive design

Turn the challenges connected to the rapidly changing contexts of demographics and environment into new opportunities to innovate, make profit and increase market shares.

Engage with Inclusive Design strategy!

Inclusive Design is being written into legislation. Products and services will now have to meet these new criterias. This book shows how you can turn these challenge into opportunities for profitable innovation.

Adopt an Inclusive Design strategy and you will come closer to your customers by understanding their needs. Inclusive Design is also used here to describe Universal Design and Design for All.

Buy this practical step-by-step guide that explains how to involve people in your design process.

Testimonials

Best book on Inclusive / Universal / Accessible Design I've read!
Its clear, well designed, and makes excellent points. It summarises the argument for inclusive design well and has great research guidelines. I really wish I'd read this book sooner- it really is fantastic. I've also started reading a government document: Releasing Constraints: Projecting the Economic Impacts of Increased Accessibility in Ontario, so for those interested in the business argument for inclusive design and reside or have business ties to Canada, this may also be helpful.

Nell Chitty, Masters in Design in Inclusive Design at OCAD University

“This book is one of the best inclusive design published materials on the market, thanks to its practicality, easy reading and consulting structure. I have been developing inclusive products in Brazil and the book have been very useful in developing new products and as reference to publish materials."

Tulio Maximo, NGO Noisinho da Silva designer

“This is an important book because it demystifies the activity of design so that everyone can relate to it and enables non-experts and non-designers to apply inclusive design research and management methods in their development processes, without having to redo those processes.”

Tim Larcombe, Strategic Innovation & Processes, Oticon A/S

“Innovating with People is an excellent introduction to inclusive design. Concise, jargon-free, and beautiful.”

Hua Dong, Senior Lecturer at Brunel University

“The design and the layout of this book is really fabulous, I really enjoyed reading it.”

Ranjana Sarkar, PT-DLR, National Contact Point for Socio-economic Sciences and the Humanities

“A generous and important book – the authors have distilled their best knowledge & experience into a format that is both practical and profound. Only true experts can make their subject simple, and NDC have shown themselves to be in this category."

Tim Larcombe, Strategic Innovation & Processes, Oticon A/S

"A refreshing and very accessible introduction to inclusive design. There’s a broad range of well-illustrated case studies from products through services to large scale systems. The helpful key methods section is succinct, well-structured & contextualised, and highly usable."

Contributors

Onny Eikhaug Editor-in-chief

Onny is Programme Leader at the Norwegian Design Council, responsible for the Council’s activities in Inclusive Design. A main focus is to demonstrate the value of Inclusive Design as an effective business tool for innovation to designers, industry and government. She writes, publishes, and lectures both in Norway and internationally, and works closely with designers, education, industry and government using projects and other knowledge transfer mechanisms to achieve this. Onny has broad experience in international marketing, sales, product development and design management.

Rama Gheerawo Editor

Rama is Deputy Director of the Royal College of Art Helen Hamlyn Centre. He leads a team of researchers and designers on the Centre’s Research Associates Programme working with business, voluntary sector and government organisations from around the world such as Toyota, GlaxoSmithKline, and BlackBerry. Over 110 projects have been completed to date with 85 companies. Rama is an expert on inclusive design and passionately promotes a people-centred approach. He writes, lectures and publishes on the subject to diverse audiences across the world.

Cian Plumbe Contributing author

Cian is an industrial designer and partner at the design consultancy Studiohead. After postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Art, he worked as a freelance designer before his interest in user-centered design led him to join the RCA Helen Hamlyn Centre. Here he conducted projects for BT and Research in Motion, exploring the future of telecommunications. On leaving the Helen Hamlyn Centre, Cian formed the company Studiohead with fellow designer Matthew Harrison and is currently engaged in projects ranging from travel accessories to surgical equipment.

Marianne Støren Berg Contributing author

Marianne is now a Senior Usability Specialist in Telenor Norway, previously founder and partner in the Oslo-based design consultancy KODE Design. She holds a PhD in innovation processes and workshops. Prior to consulting and co-founding KODE Design in 2001, she also has experience from working with the Norwegian industry. She has worked with organisations such as HÅG, Tandberg Telecom, Jordan and Tine. Her role in practical product design has been within the field of user research and user strategies as well as project management and workshop facilitation.

Merih Kunur Contributing author

Merih is an experienced vehicle designer, researcher and consultant. In 2003, he graduated from the Vehicle Design Department at the Royal College of Art with an MPhil, his thesis investigated mobility issues in London. Since then Merih has worked with the Helen Hamlyn Centre on several projects on inclusive design and mobility. Previous projects include animation, art direction for TV, office, retail and warehouse architecture, textile and vehicle design.

Victoria Høisæther Project Co-writer and Assistant

Victoria is working with Inclusive Design under the Innovation for All Programme at the Norwegian Design Council. She has a bachelor degree in design and technology from Vestfold University and a masters degree in visual communication from the Norwegian University of Science & Technology, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. Victoria has academic expertise in Norwegian design history, and has worked with editorial, design and project management related to communication of the Innovation for All Programme.